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Body Contouring After Weight Loss Surgery

Plastic Surgery Procedures (Body Contouring) After Weight Loss

Most patients who undergo gastric bypass, or some form of gastric banding procedure, do lose weight. Many lose a lot of weight. But this massive weight loss brings problems of its own.
Typically patients are left with large folds of excess skin, along with loose muscles and sometimes localized pockets of unsightly fat tissue. In such cases, bariatric plastic surgery procedures, body contouring procedures and lipoplasty (liposuction), can help to reshape the normal structures of the body in order to improve appearance and self-esteem.
Plastic surgery is not an easy option. Mostly, it involves exchanging one cosmetic problem (eg. loose skin) for another (scars).
Plastic Surgery Procedures to Remove Loose Skin and Fat
For patients suffering from morbid or malignant obesity, choosing bariatric surgery to reduce calorie intake may offer them a passport to a healthy life. But even if such surgery causes them to lose substantial amounts of weight, they may face new problems which may necessitate further operations.
Plastic Surgery to Remove Loose Skin
When bariatric surgery (eg. gastric bypass) leads to dramatic weight loss, excessive amounts of skin can accumulate and hang in various areas, including face, neck, breasts, upper and lower abdomen, flanks, armpit, back, buttocks, arms, forearms, thighs, legs, and calves. This surplus skin can cause considerable hygienic problems, skin irritation, skin breakdown, pain and infection.
Plastic Surgery Procedures to Remove Excess Residual Fat
In addition, even though the patient might have experienced massive weight reduction, this weight loss may not be evenly spread around the body. This also depends on the patient’s type of obesity condition (whether gynoid or android). Body Contouring procedures can help to reduce these fat deposits, either by surgical excision or lipoplasty.
Cost of Plastic Surgery Procedures
The price of bariatric-related plastic surgery procedures can vary significantly, depending on several factors.

  • Patient’s condition
  • Complicating factors
  • The plastic surgeon
  • The hospital chosen
  • The type of anesthesia
  • Complications arising

Patient’s Needs
The full cost of your plastic surgery procedure is unlikely to become clear until after you have been examined by your surgeon, and your individual requirements and needs ascertained. Even then, you may need follow-up procedures after your plastic surgery.





Body Contouring Surgery Options

  • Abdominoplasty (tummy tuck)
  • Arm Lift (brachioplasty)
  • Body lift (Circumferential Panniculectomy)
  • Breast Lift (Mastopexy)
  • Breast Reduction (Women)
  • Buttock Lift
  • Face Lift
  • Forehead Lift
  • Male Breast Reduction (Gynecomastia)
  • Liposuction (Lipoplasty)
  • Thigh lift (Thighplasty)

Dr. Bishara will discuss these and other treatment options with you during your consultation to determine which procedures are right for you. Our  treatment plan is specifically designed for patients who have recently undergone bariatric surgery and are left with loose, sagging skin as a result of the extreme weight loss. Please call our office at (817) 473-2120 for more information or to schedule a consultation or visit our website at www.MarkBisharaMD.com for more pictures of body contouring patients.

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Weight Loss Surgery- What To Know

Weight Loss Surgery, How Do I Get Started?

Taking the first step is often the hardest when it comes to weight loss, so True Results provides some easy-to-use tools and free services to help you get informed and get started on your journey.
In North Texas, True Results has teamed up with Baylor Health Care System to provide innovative weight loss solutions for life.
True Results provides a comprehensive program and an expert medical team that’s with you every step of the way. They have specialized bariatric centers in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Phoenix, Tucson and St. Louis.
True Results opened the nation’s first state-of-the-art outpatient surgery center to be recognized by the American College of Surgeons as an Accredited Outpatient Bariatric Center.
Losing weight is about more than just looking good. It’s about being healthy. Bariatric patients who lose a significant amount of weight typically improve or resolve weight-related co-morbidities including Type-II diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), sleep apnea, joint pain and asthma.

Quick Weight Loss with Bariatric Surgery


If you are overweight and are looking for quick weight loss, then a surgical weight loss procedure may be the right approach for you. True Results has excellent quick weight loss centers in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Phoenix Tucson and St. Louis. Their centers are specially designed for outpatient bariatric procedures.  True Results specializes in the Lap Band and Sleeve Gastrectomy surgeries, and both can be performed in outpatient centers.  Lap Band procedures and the Sleeve Gastrectomy are available in all Texas and St. Louis markets.
To help you understand the differences in the Lap Band Procedure, Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery and Gastric Bypass Surgery, this page provides a brief overview of each procedure.

Lap Band Procedure

Lap Band Surgery IllustrationGastric banding, commonly known as a Lap Band procedure, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for safe and effective weight loss. It is a silicone band – like a ring or belt – that is placed around the upper part of your stomach.
It is designed to place a precise level of pressure on the nerves around the upper part of your stomach so they send signals to your brain that you are not hungry.  Because the band also constricts the upper portion of your stomach, you will eat less food at one time and still feel satisfied.
The Lap Band system includes a small access port that is safely placed under your skin.  The port is not visible and it is unlikely that anyone will know you have the Lap Band system, unless you tell them.
The band is adjusted by adding or removing saline through this access port with a small needle to ensure it continues providing optimum weight loss results.  True Results has the most experienced team of weight loss surgeons in America and pioneered performing this procedure in an outpatient setting.
True Results offers the Lap Band procedure at all of its specialty weight loss centers in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Phoenix, Tucson and St. Louis.

Sleeve Gastrectomy (Gastric Sleeve)

Sleeve gastrectomy is a surgical weight-loss procedure in which the stomach is reduced to about 20% of its original size.
Gastric sleeve is a restrictive procedure where approximately 80% of the stomach is removed, creating a small vertical sleeve about the size of a small banana.  This procedure is not reversible.
This procedure limits the amount of food you can eat and helps you feel full sooner. It allows for normal digestion and absorption. Food consumed passes through the digestive tract in the usual order, allowing it to be fully absorbed in the body.
The majority of sleeve gastrectomy procedures are performed using a laparoscopic technique, which is considered minimally invasive. This procedure can be done in an outpatient, same-day surgery center or an inpatient hospital setting.
True Results offers the Sleeve Gastrectomy throughout Texas and in St. Louis.

Plastic Surgery Procedures After Weight Loss- Body Contouring

Most patients who undergo gastric bypass, or some form of gastric banding procedure, do lose weight and many lose a lot of weight. But this massive weight loss brings problems of its own.  Sometimes the need for plastic surgery or body contouring procedures are needed to get rid of excess fat, loose muscle and fat tissue.  The office of Dr. Mark Bishara offers many body contouring procedures that help patients look and feel their best after their weight loss. These procedures are designed to improve the appearance of the body and provide highly effective results. Many of these body contouring procedures can be combined in order to achieve your desired appearance.  Please call our office at (817) 473-2120 or visit our website at www.MarkBisharaMD.com for more information.

 

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Breast Surgery Options

Breasts

Whether you want to increase your breast size, get a lift, go down a size or have breast revision surgery, the office of Dr. Mark Bishara has the information for you to get started on your smart beauty choice.

Breast Augmentation

Also known as augmentation mammaplasty, breast enlargement or breast implants
Breast augmentation surgery increases or restores breast size using silicone gel implants, saline implants or in some cases, fat transfer. One of the most popular and frequently performed aesthetic surgery procedures, breast augmentation has a long and successful track record in satisfying women who wish to enhance, regain or restore balance to their figures.

When to Consider Breast Augmentation

  • If you want a better proportioned or more appealing figure
  • If you wish your clothes fit better
  • When pregnancy, weight loss or aging has affected the size and shape of your breasts
  • To restore symmetry if one of your breasts is smaller than the other
Also known as mastopexy and breast lift surgery
A breast lift addresses sagging and uneven breasts, decreased breast volume and drooping nipples and stretched areolas (the darker area surrounding the nipples), recreating a youthful shape and lift to your breasts. If there is too little or too much breast volume, a breast augmentation or breast reduction might be recommended in addition to a lift. Every year, thousands of women undergo successful breast-lift surgery, experience no major problems and are pleased with the results.

When to Consider a Breast Lift

  • Pregnancy, nursing, gravity, weight gain or loss, normal aging, and heredity have taken a toll on the shape of your breasts, resulting in sagging
  • If your surgeon thinks that breast implants alone are unlikely to achieve the contour you desire
  • If the tissue surrounding the nipple or areola has become stretched

Breast Reduction

Also known as reduction mammaplasty
The goal of breast reduction surgery is to reduce the size of your breasts and reshape them so that they are proportionate to the rest of your body and are no longer a source of physical discomfort. This commonly requested, predictable procedure has the dual benefits of improving your appearance while relieving the physical and emotional burden of overly large breasts.

When to Consider Breast Reduction

  • If your breasts are too large for your body frame and create neck, back, or shoulder pain
  • If you have heavy breasts with nipples and areolas (pigmented skin surrounding the nipples) that point downward
  • If one breast is much larger than the other
  • If you are unhappy and self-conscious about the large appearance of your breasts

Breast Revision

Also known as breast implant replacement
Breast implant revision surgery, which commonly involves removal and/or replacement of saline or silicone breast implants, is performed to change the size or type of your implants and to correct any complications from your primary breast augmentation. The overall goal is to restore a youthful breast contour and appearance.

When to Consider Breast Revision

  • Your saline breast implants have deflated or an X-ray or MRI suggests your silicone implant has a shell leak
  • If you want to change your implant/breast size
  • If you have tightening of the scar tissue around the implant (capsular contracture) or your breast implants have shifted in position
  • If your breast tissue has changed as a result of skin stretching or weight loss/gain

Dr. Mark Bishara, with offices in Mansfield and Southlake- provides a wide range of cosmetic procedures to help patients look and feel their best. These procedures are designed to improve the appearance of the face and body through minimally invasive techniques that provide highly effective results. Many of these procedures can be combined in order to achieve your desired appearance. Please call our office for more information at (817) 473-2120 or visit our website at www.MarkBisharaMD.com.

 

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Hair Loss Treatment Options


While many men are fine with hair loss, for others baldness demands a remedy, which they seek in a variety of ways.
Over the years, the number of treatments that have been claimed to cure baldness has been exceeded, perhaps, only by the number of jokes about the condition. But since baldness — as unappealing a prospect as it may be for many men — is not an illness, procedures and drugs to treat it may not get the scrutiny given those for genuine medical conditions.
Things have gotten better, so there’s some of the older techniques and older treatments … and there are newer ones, so it’s a work in progress.  But while treatments have come along that have not worked well, there are things available for men who are losing or have lost their hair and would like to cover their pates. There are a variety of medical and surgical options, as well as things that are completely noninvasive.
Male pattern baldness is typically associated with the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Over time, the presence of this hormone has been linked to the thinning or “miniaturization” of hairs. The new hair that grows grows thinner and less pigmented.
For most men, noticeable hair loss begins in their 20s or 30s, but some see it even younger. Male pattern baldness tends to start later, affecting, to some degree, 20 percent of men by the time they reach the age of 20. But for most of these men, there are a lot of options to stop, reverse or delay hair loss. Here are a number of treatment options that have been tried and the pros and cons of trying them out.

Follicular Unit Transplant


Performed in two different ways, follicular unit transplantation remains the best surgical option for men seeking to counter their hair loss.  Hair transplant is the gold standard. It’s 100 percent. The body doesn’t reject its own hair.
FUT performed by Dr. Mark Bishara is a method of hair restoration surgery in which hair is transplanted only as natural, individual follicular units. This ensures that patients will achieve the most natural results and also allows Dr. Bishara to transplant the maximum amount of hair into a small area. These follicular units consist of up to four individual hairs in each follicle.
During the FUT procedure, the hair is trimmed short and then the scalp is numbed with a local anesthetic before being removed through a vibration distraction technique. The removed follicles are then stripped to their most natural state and then placed in the recipient area. Sutures are placed in the donor area, which are usually hidden by the patient’s hair. The healing process begins immediately after the procedure, and patients are usually able to resume normal hair care after a week. Hair growth typically begins about three months after the FUT procedure.
Rogaine
Surgery may be fine for some, but others prefer pharmaceutical treatments to the knife. The decision to pursue actual surgery … is not something everyone wants to do.  Many patients begin with medications.

One of those pharmaceutical interventions is the topical application of minoxidil, a foam known to many by the brand name of Rogaine. It’s probably not going to work that well for people who have already lost a lot of their hair,  but for those early on in the process, minoxidil works great.

Hair Plugs

In this process, which is no longer widely used, a small, circular cone of scalp –was removed from the back of the head and placed in a hole put in the front. It’s really not done much anywhere anymore. While follicles are able to blend into the scalp and look natural, plugs never did because of their size — they were 30 times larger than the follicles transplanted now. The size made the plug look completely unnatural, something that can be gotten around — when done properly — with the modern follicle transplant.

Propecia


Propecia is a great medication [for hair loss]. It works about 85 percent of the time, at least to prevent further hair loss.
Originally designed to treat enlarged prostate, Propecia, known scientifically as finasteride, can be taken orally on a daily basis to counter hair loss. It has been shown to be highly effective, but it is not perfect. It works best when the patient is younger and the hair loss is early on. It doesn’t grow hair on a bald scalp; it only reverses the miniaturization process. Propecia has really remarkable results.

Flap Hair Restoration

The hair flap, also known as flap rotation, has not been done in a while. The hair flap involved isolating a flap of skin from the back of the head — where the hair was still growing — and rotating it to the front, maintaining the blood flow through the artery attached to the skin. The problem with the flap is it’s much too dense and you’re using up too much hair in a small area. The procedure had other drawbacks- It’s very unnatural looking and the hair is in the wrong direction.

Low Level Laser Technology (LLLT)

The low- level laser therapy treatment is also known as “The Cold Laser”. The laser light generated by low-powered (cold) lasers has recently come into use as a non-surgical hair restoration treatment for patten hair loss.
The LaserCap® using Low Level Laser Technology (LLLT) can help men and women of all ages who suffer from hair loss by emitting pulses of laser light energy to the scalp to stimulate the hair follicles and improve blood circulation in the area, encouraging hair growth once again. Recently, the FDA has announced its approval of Low Level Laser Technology for use in the promotion of hair growth for men, with approval for women anticipated soon as well. Dr. Bishara fully endorses the results of this advanced technology and is proud to offer LLLT in his office through treatment with the LaserCap.

Stem Cells

Needless to say, stem cells aren’t used as a hair loss treatment now, but hopes are high that we’ll have an endless supply of hair 20 years from now.  Doctors had differing opinions — ranging from five to 20 years — on how soon stem cells would be available. But the consensus was that hair treatments would change.
Fortunately, there are several treatments available to help promote hair growth or restore hair loss. These treatments are minimally invasive and affordable, and allow patients to enjoy a renewed confidence as thick, full and beautiful hair is restored. Hair loss treatment includes topical and/or oral medications, laser comb therapy, and transplantation.
Dr. Mark Bishara is proud to offer a wide range of comprehensive hair restoration procedures. Combined with his extensive experience and advanced skills, these procedures are often highly effective. The best treatment option for each patient depends on the location and extent of hair loss. Dr. Bishara will take the time to evaluate each patient, discuss his/her individual goals and together develop a personalized treatment plan using one of his many successful hair loss treatment options.  Please call us for more information at (817) 473-2120 or visit our website at www.MarkBisharaMD.com.
 
 
 
 

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Hair Replacement- The Next Generation


Today’s options for hair growth have gone through a major evolution since 1952 when hair transplantation surgery was first pioneered.
Hair transplant surgery has changed completely — from large to small grafts. The large-graft technique used to be state-of-the-art back then. Treatments have shifted from unnatural-looking transplants to sophisticated new drugs and improvements in hair transplant surgery, like Robotic Hair Transplants- to the future of cloning individual hair cells. The future of hair restoration looks even brighter than the present.
According to estimates form the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 40 million men and 20 million women experience hair loss.
To perform a hair transplant, Dr. Mark Bishara obtain skin grafts with hair follicles from places on the scalp that are still growing hair (typically the back or side of the head) and transplant them into the balding areas where it will continue to grow. Today, surgeons use smaller grafts which contain anywhere from one to five hair follicles per graft; this helps give the scalp a more natural appearance. By contrast the larger grafts had 15-20 hair follicles; they looked artificial with the appearance of rows of hairs. These are known as hair plugs.

For the very latest technology in hair restoration, Dr. Bishara is now using the ARTAS System.This physician-controlled, state-of-the-art system enables the harvesting of hair follicles during hair restoration procedures. It offers numerous beneficial features, including an image-guided robotic arm, special imaging technologies, small dermal punches and a computer interface. The ARTAS System is capable of identifying and harvesting individual follicular units to implement the FUE technique. The device, guided by cameras and 3-D imaging software, can perform the dissection of hair follicles individually at a rate of up to 1,000 per hour.
FUE offers less discomfort and a faster return to normal daily activities than traditional, more invasive methods of hair restoration. Performed in Dr. Bishara’s office, FUE with ARTAS moves healthy, functioning follicles to the areas of the patient’s scalp most impacted by baldness for more dramatic results. The implanted hairs develop their own blood supply, begin to grow and new hairs are seen a few months after the procedure has taken place. New hair continues to grow over the course of a full year, making the change in the patient’s appearance gradually noticeable to others. Healing time is short, and there is no resultant linear scar as happens with other methods of hair restoration. The only evidence is tiny, white scars left in the donor area, which are the same as those produced by manual FUE.
In the case of hair transplantation, going from large grafts of hair to small grafts was what made this procedure so much more natural and because of this, more people doing better transplants today.

The Evolution Continues

Hair transplantations have continued to evolve into smaller and smaller grafts and the next step will be to add a cell-based transplant where you can inject hair seeds into the balding area that can grow into a brand new follicle (cloning). Within five years, we should be able to augment and add this to the follicle-based transplant. Cloning has certainly become possible in other areas, so it is very possible that there will come a time when hair can be cloned. If hair cloning can work that would give us the best ability to restore hair. It would deliver the best results, physically and cosmetically.
Dr. Mark Bishara is proud to offer a wide range of comprehensive hair restoration procedures. Combined with his extensive experience and advanced skills, these procedures are often highly effective. The best treatment option for each patient depends on the location and extent of hair loss. Dr. Bishara will take the time to evaluate each patient, discuss his/her individual goals and together develop a personalized treatment plan using one of his many successful hair loss treatment options.  Please call our office at (817) 473-2120 or visit our website for more information at www.MarkBisharaMD.com.
 

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